Before Melissa Stoddard died here, abuse in North Carolina

Documents offer more insight into troubled life and terrible death of the autistic 11-year-old

By GABRIELLE RUSSON

The stubborn little girl sometimes threw tantrums when she was annoyed by the tasks at school. She was autistic, so communicating with others could be a struggle.

But Melissa Stoddard showed promise as teachers praised her creativity and energy and realized how the 11-year-old thrived in a structured environment.

Last summer, Melissa was pulled from the North Carolina elementary school where she had been steadily improving and moved to Sarasota County to live with her father and stepmother.

Less than six months later, Melissa would be dead, the victim of what authorities called egregious abuse.

A new 180-page state report reveals more about Melissa’s troubled life and horrifying death, including the reason she likely left her mother’s home in Guilford County, N.C.

Documents from the Florida Department of Children and Families show that Melissa was sexually abused by her older sibling, so her mother decided to send her to Florida to protect her.

Public documents on child abuse cases are typically rare. The state only releases the information when the case is closed and if it has determined the child has died at the hands of abuse or neglect, said DCF spokeswoman Terri Durdaller.

Melissa died Dec. 17 from lack of oxygen to the brain after being regularly tied down and duct-taped to keep from crying out.

Her stepmother, Misty Stoddard, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm. Melissa’s biological father, Kenneth Stoddard, is also facing the same aggravated child abuse charge.

On an earlier visit with her father, there were signs Melissa seemed to be exposed to sexual abuse. She became “obsessed” with pulling her father’s pants down and grabbing his penis, according to the DCF report.

“Melissa seems to be driven to do this,” the report said.

Melissa continued the same behavior with her uncle, but not her brothers, it noted.

DCF opened an investigation and determined there did not appear to be any physical signs of abuse on Melissa’s body. The case was closed by the time Melissa returned to North Carolina to be with her biological mother, Lisha Stoddard, and her brother.

The report appears to date back to July 2007, when Melissa would have been 6.

Years later, on July 29, 2012, Lisha Stoddard walked in on a male child and Melissa with her pants down, records show.

In the past, the two children had been caught licking and kissing each other in the house they lived in with their mother, the report said.

Last summer, Melissa moved in with Kenneth and Misty Stoddard, who were raising five children — then ages 15, 8, 5, 4 and an infant — in rural Sarasota County. The couple, who were expecting another baby, had been together for nine years, although Misty Stoddard was legally married to somebody else, according to the report.

Once Melissa arrived in Florida, a new kind of abuse began.

“The victim was the target child, she was isolated from her siblings, isolated from the community and the family lived in a rural area,” the DCF report said. “The other children were subjected to corporal discipline and described the victim child as the ‘bad child.’ ”

Melissa was treated differently, even in small ways, such as not being allowed to eat the sugar cereals during breakfast. She wasn’t allowed to eat at the dinner table, either.

“The oldest child also revealed that Melissa was on a special diet to try and control her behavior and that she ate different foods from the rest of the family,” the report said.

The Stoddards’ tight control of Melissa’s diet also occurred at Oak Park School. Oak Park is a public school for students with disabilities in Sarasota County and is less than four miles from the Stoddard home at 9021 Delft Road.

At Oak Park, the Stoddards insisted Melissa eat chicken and raw carrots, even though the girl didn’t like them.

At the time of her death, Melissa weighed only 80 pounds.

At Sarasota County Schools, Melissa showed progress, as she had in North Carolina. Her teacher observed Melissa could understand when others spoke to her, and she could tell others how she felt. She knew how to say, “I want that toy” or “I am hungry,” according to the report.

But Melissa’s language skills also provided deeper insight into her home life, the teacher suspected.

“Get out of my house,” Melissa would say at school, as if she was repeating what she had heard at home. “Now look what you’ve done. All right, that’s it.”

Melissa also began to miss school.

Beginning Nov. 6 she racked up six consecutive absences. She returned Nov. 13 but missed the next day, then returned the 15th.

After that, she disappeared from Oak Park, the DCF report said.

School officials called the family to arrange meetings that the Stoddards ignored. A guidance counselor was so concerned, she went to Melissa’s house, but Misty Stoddard refused to let her in.

Melissa was with her dad, Misty Stoddard told her, adding that they were displeased the school wasn’t following Melissa’s gluten-free diet. Although medical research has been inconclusive, some caretakers of autistic children claim such a diet has improved their children’s symptoms.

It had been Misty Stoddard’s idea to remove Melissa from school because “they spoil her by giving her snacks and letting her watch TV and have toys,” her sibling later told authorities.

Since she was no longer in school, the Oak Park staff could not see Melissa’s bruises or hear about the horrors at her home.

District spokesman Gary Leatherman said he was unsure if or when the school contacted DCF to report any child abuse allegations. Ron DiPillo, who at the time was the Oak Park principal, declined to comment Friday.

The DCF report said Melissa’s teacher “thought a report was made earlier in the week.”

Showing no emotion

In December, Melissa’s room was suddenly quiet, so her stepmother went to investigate. The girl was so flat and unmoving, Misty Stoddard wondered if she was faking it, the DCF report said.

She realized Melissa wasn’t breathing.

At the hospital, Melissa’s suffering was clear to doctors when she was admitted to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg on Dec. 13.

They noticed there was duct tape still attached to her wrists and ankles, and the skin around her wrists was peeling off. She had bruises around her ankles, wrists and shoulders, among other injuries, the documents say.

She was brain-dead.

If she had lived, Melissa would have required a feeding tube and breathing apparatus to survive, a registered nurse told DCF.

Misty Stoddard’s defense attorney contends she is innocent.

Kenneth Stoddard’s defense attorney has said his client is also innocent and described him as overworked father who left much of the child-rearing to Misty.

A July 30 hearing is set at which the Stoddards could learn their trial dates.

In the DCF report, Misty Stoddard sounded withdrawn as she talked with authorities after Melissa’s death.

An investigator asked how many children she had.

Misty Stoddard answered five and then added, “Well, and you know about my stepdaughter who died,” the DCF report said.

“She did not appear upset,” the report added.

“They already took the other four (children) and then they took my baby,” said Misty Stoddard, who broke down crying, according to the report.

“This was the only time she showed emotion,” the DCF report said, adding that “she appears non-emotional and her tears quickly dried.”